A BILL seeking to institutionalize a 30-year infrastructure master plan has been filed in the Senate to maximize returns on public spending, prevent budget insertions and ensure the continuity of major projects across administrations. Senate Bill 91652, or the proposed Masterplan for Infrastructure and National Development (MIND) Act, aims to establish a long-term, legally binding framework that will guide the planning, funding and implementation of national infrastructure projects. The measure is designed to weed out redundant or low-impact initiatives and prioritize projects that deliver the highest economic and social returns. Under the proposal, infrastructure investments would be aligned with a comprehensive national development road map, reducing the influence of short-term political considerations on budget decisions. By anchoring the master plan in law, the bill seeks to protect priority projects from abrupt cancellations or policy shifts whenever administrations change. The measure was filed by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, who stressed the need to “lock in the country’s development goal and lock out political interference. With infrastructure taking a bigger piece of the budgetary pie, we need to ensure that every peso is spent on projects that truly benefit ordinary Filipinos.” He noted that allocations for national infrastructure projects grew by an average of 7.9 percent annually from 2022 to 2025, based on data from the Department of Budget and Management, underscoring the need for a long-term strategy to manage the rising level of public investment. Beyond preventing so-called budget insertions, the MIND Act also aims to ensure that critical infrastructure, such as transport networks, flood control systems, and energy and digital facilities, can be completed even if they span multiple administrations. “When the master plan is anchored in law, it is not easy to change, and important infrastructure can be continued even if those in office change,” Gatchalian said.